Bible and a Bicycle

Alright, folks. Here's the shape of it. There's a woman named Emily Bickford, up in Portland, Maine. She's got a daughter — Ava, thirteen years old now. Emily and the girl's father, Matthew Bradeen, were never married, separated a while back, and Emily's had primary custody. Somewhere along the way, Emily started taking Ava to a church called Calvary Chapel. The girl went for about three years. And by all accounts, she took to it — got baptized, made friends there, seemed to want to be there.

The father didn't care for it. There was a service where the pastor prayed for his salvation, named him right there in front of the congregation, and that didn't sit well, and I understand why it wouldn't. And there was testimony that the daughter had some anxiety around teachings about the rapture. So he took it to family court, arguing the church was — and this is close to the language used — a "dangerous and harmful environment."

And in December of 2024, a Portland district judge agreed with him. Not entirely — the judge was actually pretty explicit that there was "no showing of harm" from, quote, "a belief system that is rooted in the Bible" as such. That's an important detail and I don't want to skip past it, because it means the court wasn't standing up and saying "Christianity is dangerous." What it said was narrower and, in its own way, stranger — it took issue with specific doctrines. Heaven. Hell. Eternal salvation. Angels. Demons. The rapture. Teaching the Bible "verse by verse, chapter by chapter." And it took issue with what it called the mother's inability to co-parent around religion, and language from the church that it felt had denigrated the father. So the judge handed the father final decision-making authority over the girl's religious life. Full stop. He now gets to decide whether she goes to church at all, whether she reads Scripture, whether she's exposed to — and this is the phrase that's been rattling around in my head — "any religious philosophy or the Bible in general."

Emily appealed. Liberty Counsel took the case up, a fella named Mat Staver arguing it. And on September 1st of this year, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court — unanimously, all of them — upheld it. Said the lower court acted within the bounds of family law. Rejected the argument that this was hostile to Christianity. Liberty Counsel's saying now they're headed for the U.S. Supreme Court. We'll see if it gets taken up.

Now, I want to drift for a second, because this is where my mind kept going, and I think it's worth going there with me.

Listen or read over on the Patreon...
www.patreon.com/Bibleandabicycle/posts/when-court-…

6 days ago (edited) | [YT] | 3

Bible and a Bicycle

Hey folks — quick heads up on this week's Babbling On in Babylon. Episode's fully recorded, edited, ready to roll, but I like to have the post-rant aftershow sitting there on Patreon for y'all right when the episode drops, and I'm running a little behind getting that finished up. Been dealing with some health stuff the past week or so, just kinda draggin' through everything like it's an uphill pedal, if you know what I mean. Nothing serious, just slowing me down some. So we're gonna push it to tomorrow evening, 7 PM. Appreciate y'all's patience as always. See you then.

1 week ago | [YT] | 6

Bible and a Bicycle

I want to tell you something I did this morning that I'm not proud of. Not the usual fare around here — no Watchers, no black projects, no strange lights in the sky. Just me, failing, in real time, in front of two dogs and a woman I don't know the name of. And I want to walk you through it honest, because if this community's built on anything, it's built on us being straight with each other. Friends and family don't perform for one another. They tell the truth, even when the truth makes them look bad.

So here's how the morning started, and you'll see it started right. It started good, folks.

I woke up early, dogs all over me, that particular kind of chaos where you can't tell if you're being loved on or interrogated. Gave thanks. Meant it. There's something about the quiet of a house before the sun's up, before the day's demanded anything of you yet, where gratitude comes easy — it's not hard to be grateful when nothing's gone wrong yet. I want you to hold onto that phrase, because it's going to matter here in a minute.

Took the boys out for their walk. That morning constitutional, sacred ritual of dog ownership. Sun's not up. Crickets still going. A couple deer bedded down in somebody's yard, just watching us pass, not spooked, like they knew we weren't a threat. World waking up slow. And I'm walking through it feeling like a man who's got his life more or less in order this particular hour of this particular day.

We come up on the strip mall we cut through most mornings. Same route, every day, month after month. And there's a person huddled under a blanket with a shopping cart — you know the picture, we've all seen it, it's become wallpaper in this country and that's a whole sermon on its own, what we've let become wallpaper. And a voice comes up from under that blanket: "I got my dog down here."

And folks, I want to be honest with you about what happened in my chest in that half-second. It wasn't concern. It wasn't even caution, not really. It was irritation, dressed up as caution. We've had a rough stretch in this neighborhood the last year or so with things not being — what's the word — koopasetic, between the housed and the houseless, and I had a whole file of grievances sitting loaded, ready to fire, and this woman just happened to be standing where I decided to pull the trigger.

Listen on Patreon...
www.patreon.com/Bibleandabicycle/posts/convicted-o…

1 month ago | [YT] | 9

Bible and a Bicycle

What does it actually mean to be a “good person”?

A little while back, I had a conversation with someone who had grown tired of trying to sort through all the noise of religion, denominations, church hurt, and competing claims about who has the truth. Their conclusion was simple: *I’m just going to try to be a good person.*

And honestly? I understood that.

Kindness matters. Compassion matters. Helping people matters.

But there's a question that's been sitting with me ever since that conversation:

What if being a good person isn't actually the standard?


Early access on Patreon...
www.patreon.com/Bibleandabicycle/posts/being-good-…

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 9

Bible and a Bicycle

Shabbat shalom!
Alright, so — I had one of those moments this week. You know the kind I mean. Wasn't a lightning bolt, wasn't some grand vision. Just this quiet little nudge that showed up while I was doing something completely mundane, and it just would not leave me alone. And I want to talk it out with you today, folks, the way I'd talk it out with a friend over coffee — not hand you a finished conclusion, just walk through it together and see where it lands.

www.patreon.com/Bibleandabicycle/posts/theres-noth…

1 month ago | [YT] | 9

Bible and a Bicycle

What exactly is sin?

And when Yeshua talks about being “born again,” what exactly is being made new?

We've all heard the idea that your body, soul, mind, will, and emotions remain separate from the process—that **only your spirit becomes holy**.

But is that actually what the Bible says?

I decided to put that idea to the test. No creeds. No denominational traditions. No “because that's what we've always been taught.”

Just open the Bible and see what the biblical authors actually have to say about sin, the heart, the soul, spirit, mind, body, and what it means to be born from above.

I reckon the answer may be more interesting—and a whole lot more biblical—than the neat little diagrams we've been handed.

I've posted the deeper dive over on Patreon. Available to all Patreon members paid and free levels alike. Link below.

www.patreon.com/Bibleandabicycle/posts/so-what-exa…

1 month ago | [YT] | 3

Bible and a Bicycle

Alrighty, folks. Go on and grab your Bible and sit down with me for a few minutes.

I want to take a shorter look at something we explored in the larger study, Echoes of the Text: Stripping the Creeds from the Creator. We don't need to go through every passage this time. I just want to slow down and look at one particular question:

When the Bible talks about God being "one," what does the text actually mean?

And as always, don't take my word for it. Keep your Bible open. We're going to let the Scriptures speak for themselves and pay particular attention to the Hebrew and Greek words we're reading.

ko-fi.com/post/One-God-One-Lord-A-Short-Study-in-B…

1 month ago | [YT] | 9

Bible and a Bicycle

What happens when we set aside the creeds, traditions, and centuries of theological interpretation and simply go back to the biblical text?

In this Bible study, we're opening up the Scriptures and taking a close look at what the Bible itself says about the nature of God and the relationship between the Father and the Son.

We'll examine the Hebrew word **echad** (אֶחָד), the Greek words **heis** (εἷς) and **hen** (ἕν), the Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4, and passages throughout the New Testament concerning the oneness of the Father and the Son.

We'll look at the actual language, grammar, context, and wording of the Scriptures—and ask a simple question:

**What does the text actually say?**

This isn't about asking you to take my word for it. Keep your Bible open, read the passages for yourself, and come along as we dig through the Scriptures together.

Before the creeds. Before the councils. Before the traditions.

Back to the text.

Shalom, folks.

Early access for Patrons!
www.patreon.com/Bibleandabicycle/posts/echoes-of-t…

1 month ago | [YT] | 4

Bible and a Bicycle

Sometimes life doesn’t need a big plan or a grand adventure. Sometimes it’s just a quiet walk in the woods, the dogs exploring, a few unexpected moments along the way, and taking the time to appreciate the simple things.

2 months ago | [YT] | 3

Bible and a Bicycle

Every once in a while, life hands you one of those moments that sticks with you. Not because it's extraordinary, but because it quietly forces you to stop and think.

This reflection grew out of one of those moments.

Recently, I found myself lying awake in the early hours of the morning after a neighborhood situation had gotten completely out of hand. It started with someone who genuinely wanted to help people. Their intentions appeared sincere enough, but somewhere along the way compassion outran wisdom, and before long everyone nearby was dealing with the consequences.

As I stood there afterward, trying to sort through my own frustration, one simple phrase kept echoing in my mind:

"They've bitten off more than they can chew." ✝️🚲✌🏻❤️🙏

Early access on Patreon...
www.patreon.com/Bibleandabicycle/posts/biting-off-…

2 months ago | [YT] | 6